1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate to a method and apparatus for outputting a video signal to a television (TV) receiver, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for outputting a video signal in a format suitable to a TV.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, much research has been conducted into digital convergence technology, a technology where several electronic appliances are combined. Digital convergence technology is possible because basic data processing methods of digital electronic appliances are similar. As a result of the research conducted in recent years, digital electronic appliances are gradually replacing analog electronic appliances. Furthermore, with the development of home networks, data exchange among various types of appliances has become possible.
As a result of the research which has been conducted into combining TV receivers and computers, and into the interactions between them, video cards and the like have been developed that support the transmission of a video signal from a computer to a TV receiver. However, in order to transmit data from the computer to the TV receiver, data must be transmitted in an output format (i.e., signal transmission format) supported by the TV receiver. The TV output format indicates a manner in which a video signal is received from a computer and outputted or transmitted from the TV receiver to the TV monitor. However, it is often inconvenient for a user to have to determine the TV output format and set his or her computer accordingly.
Computers manufactured in a region may be exported to many different countries or continents, and a user may bring a notebook computer to many different countries or continents as well. In general, different TV output formats (e.g., PAL, SECAM, NTSC, and others) are used in different countries. Accordingly, the user has to manually change the settings of a computer to match a TV output format at an application level in order to connect the computer to a TV receiver and use the computer. However, in most cases, users do not know how to change computer settings appropriately, and thus they may give up trying to connect the computer to the TV receiver. Therefore, there is a growing need to solve the problem of inconveniencing users who have to manually change their computer settings to match a TV output format.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a conventional video output mechanism of a computer. An application 22 of the computer 200 transmits a video signal to a video controller 21 to output a still image or a moving image. The video controller 21 transmits the received video signal to a TV receiver 100. The video signal output from the computer 200 is transmitted to a video signal output unit 12 via a video signal input unit 11, so that a user can view the video. In this case, the video controller 21 controls the received video signal so that the video signal is output in a TV output format. Thus, the video controller 21 must detect an output format supported by the TV receiver 100 connected to the computer 200 to output the received video signal in the TV output format.
However, the TV receiver 100 is basically manufactured to satisfy a minimum of requirements for outputting video, and thus cannot transmit information regarding the output format supported by the TV receiver 100. Therefore, the user has to determine the TV output format (PAL, SECAM, or NTSC) that the connected TV receiver 100 uses, and set the video controller 21 to output the video in the TV output format. Accordingly, the user has to perform an additional process, thereby causing the user inconvenience.